Title: In From the Cold
Series: A Courtland Novella
Author: Cat Grant
Genre: Contemporary /Interracial
Length: Novella (91 pages)
Publisher: Cat Grant Books (September 15th 2014)
Heat Level: Mild
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: For all the Courtland fans clamoring for the next generation…
Cold and sick, Seth Thompson must fight through a snowstorm to get home. Seth’s unconventional upbringing taught him to always reach out to strangers in need, and Iranian engineering student Bilal al-Mansoori is no exception. Being trapped together leads to an unexpected mutual attraction—and a feverishly hot night under the covers.
But Bilal needs more than simply a rescue from the weather—he’s trapped under lifetime of cultural pressures. His strict Muslim father and fellow Iranian students have no clue about his inner torment. His attraction to Seth isn’t a welcome discovery—instead he’s trapped between the existence he’s always known and the prospect of living and loving openly for the first time in his life.
Note: This story stands alone—no need to have read the prior Courtland books
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Courtland-Novella-Cat-Grant-ebook/dp/B00MQ99CJI
Review: Seth Thompson lives an open and accepted lifestyle, completely opposite from the life Bilal is forced to lead. Seth was raised by a very unconventional family that is comprised by two dads and one mom, as a threesome. So to say Seth and his family are open-minded would likely be an understatement.
In contrast, Bilal was born and raised as a practicing Muslim. His family would disown him and his country would see him dead if they knew his secret. None the less, Seth reaches out and offers assistance to Bilal when he sees him first at the clinic, then at the pharmacy and finally stuck in the early falling snow at the bus stop.
Seth offers Bilal a warm place to stay and wait out the storm outside, not knowing about the storm raging inside the young man.
Soon enough the mutual attraction and being trapped inside due to the storm, in a small confined space, brings the feelings Bilal fights so hard to suppress to the surface. But once the storm clears and Bilal goes home, will he maintain the newfound friendship? Or go back to living a shadow of a life, being everything that is expected of him, and nothing that he wants to be.
Opposites attract is the heir apparent in this short story that is all about finding your way and being who you are. There was a decent amount of back-story for so few pages, and though brief, you do get a glimpse into the lives of each young man. I haven’t read the series this story stemmed from, but I still easily followed along and didn’t feel like I was missing anything. Not necessarily a HEA ending, more of a HFN, and the ending was a little abrupt.
Overall, a really good story that kept my attention throughout, I hope there is more to come for these two from Ms. Grant.